House budget restores Medicaid waiver program that McDonnell proposed eliminating

February 26, 2010|By Katherine Calos | Richmond Times-Dispatch

The thousands of people on a waiting list for Medicaid-funded services at home got 178 reasons to smile yesterday when the House of Delegates added 178 waiver slots to its budget proposal.

People with disabilities and their supporters had assailed Gov. Bob McDonnell's proposal to eliminate a consumer-directed Medicaid waiver program that allows elderly or disabled people to hire their own caretakers.

McDonnell had estimated $62.9 million in savings by assuming that half would not receive services from agencies. The consumer-directed waiver program was retained in the House version of the state budget, but the backlog remains a problem.

"We have about 6,000 on the waiting list, and it's growing because families are choosing to remain in the community" instead of using institutional care for people with severe developmental or intellectual disabilities, said Jamie Liban, executive director of The Arc of Virginia.

Last year, the waiting list grew by 900 people, Liban said. Even with the slots added yesterday, the anticipated number of new waivers has been cut by 956, eliminating 822 waivers for people with intellectual disabilities and 134 waivers for people with developmental disabilities, she said.

Only 100 of the new waivers will be available in the first budget year. At that rate, she said, it would take 60 years to eliminate the waiting list even if no one was ever added.

"We're incredibly grateful that the House has added those 178 . . . waivers," Liban said. "While we're grateful, there's still a lot more work to do. The first step will be making sure the Senate includes the full 178."

Del. Robin A. Abbott, D- Newport News, and M. Kirkland Cox, R- Colonial Heights and vice chair of the House Appropriations Committee, gave emotional floor speeches in favor of the waivers on the House floor Tuesday. Cox said the long waiting list is inexcusable.

All of the new waivers will be for people with intellectual disabilities, who face a waiting list of 5,200 people. The developmental-disabilities waiver program, which has 800 people on a waiting list, hasn't received new funding in four years, Liban said.

"There are people whose lives depend on these services," said Fred Orlove, executive director of the Partnership for People with Disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Mary Ann Bergeron, executive director of the Virginia Association of Community Services Boards, said: "Without these waiver services, these people would long ago have defaulted to nursing homes or facility care at a much higher cost."

To Susan Cramer of Hanover County, the waiver program is essential for getting help to take care of daughter Kaitlyn, 22, who weighs only 42 pounds and uses a motorized wheelchair because of multiple disabilities.

"Being in an institution, she'd probably die in a couple of weeks," Cramer said. "That's an extreme statement, but if she needs to go into a hospital, we can't even leave her.

"She has pins in her hip and back. If you pick her up incorrectly, you'll break her shoulder, break her leg. It's been done. It's happened."